Nepal’s SAFF 2018 journey comes to an end

Kathmandu, Sept 12 . Nepal hopes of making it to the final of the SAFF Championship football tournament 2018 ended with a loss to the Maldives.

In the semi-final match held at the Bangabandhu stadium in Dhaka, Bangladesh today, Nepal lost to the Maldives 0-3. Nepal was trailing by 1-0 in the first half of the match marred by rain and conceded two more goals in the second half.

For the Maldives, Akram Abdul Ghati scored the first goal in the 9th minute while Ibrahim Hasan scored a brace in the 84th and 86th minute of the match to seal a spot in the final of the regional tournament.

Maldives will now face the winner between India and Pakistan, who are playing the second semi-final match tomorrow.

Nepal has so far failed to move past the semi-final stage in the 25 year-long history of SAFF championship.